Clamp bacon hanger



June 27, 1933. J. E. COVEY CLAMP BACON HANGER Filed Oct. 5, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 J05 f Cove INVENTOR ATTORNE'Y TNESS QAQM June 27, 1933. J. E. cOVEY CLAMP BACON HANGER.

Filed Oct. 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY W i T N I:

June 27, 1933.

J. E. covEY CLAMP BACON HANGER Filed Oct. 5, 193]. 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I J05)? if Cove INVENTOR ATTORNEY WITNESS fl/xaQqm Patented June 27, 1933 nnirsnsra Joint covey CHZCAG 'rfcnrelieo, ILLINOIS, Assrenon re SWIFT AND COMPANY, or

O, ILLINOIS, A GOEIEDRATION ()FILLINOIS cLAivrr BACON HANGER Application filed. October 5, 1&31. Serial No. 566,956.

The invention relates to a clamp bacon hanger.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple, practical and efiicient clamp bacon hanger of the safety skewer type equipped with a suspension clamping lever arranged to engage the lean side of a bellyor bacon slab and cooperating with'the skewer to form a clamp for preventing distortion orcurling of the bacon slab while smoking and curing the same. A further object o 'VlClG a, clamp in which the weigh the clamping'lever' cause the 'clamplng "follow the meatas the same f the invention is to probacon hanger of this character t of the meat when attached to thehanger will operate to throw into" position and will lever to automatically "shrinks and to act as a support for the fat and lean meat which would otherwise sag down ontof position during the process of smoking.

' A further object o f the invention is to provide a clamp bacon "hanger having an adjustable supporting device for making contact with smoke house trolley frames adapted to 'enable'either a right or left belly to be effectively hungin' the hanger in an off center position whereby asquare shape is secured as the contraction of the belly side in smoking is greater than that of the back side and by hanging the bacon slightly off center the said unequal contraction is counteracted and a square shape is obtained.

It is also an objectof the invention to pror vide a clamp bacon hanger-of a length to accommodate bellies or slabs of bacon of difi'en ent widths and equipped with means for engaging either a right or left belly to prevent the same from sliding along the skewer when the belly or slab is suspendedoff center through the adjustment of the suspension device. 1

With these and other. objects in View, the invention consists 1n the construct1on and novel combination and'arrangement of parts hereinafter describe d, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and set forthin the claims hereto appended,

it being understood that various changesinthe form, proportion and minor details of construction, within the ing the hanger applied to a slab of bacon.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the clamp ba verse ]aw con hanger, the adjustable transbeing in elevation.

Fig. a is a front elevation of the clamp bacon hanger.

Flg. 5 1s a perspective view of the clamp bacon bacon.

hanger shown applied to a slab of Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a clamp comb hanger shown applledto a slab of bacon and illustrating another form of the invention.

Fig. 7 same;

is a vertical sectional view of the In the accompanying drawings in which is illustrated the preferred embodiment of the invention the clamp bacon hanger comprises in its construction a skewer frame composed of a horizontal fulcrum rod 1, approximately inverted L-shaped since 2 and 3 and a skewer 4E. The skewer frame is constructed of heavy; wire or other suitable material and is'pref erably formed from a single piece of such material. the

wire being bent at right angles snccessively to form the horizontal fulcrum rod and the L-shaped sides 2 and 3 which have upper horizontal portions and depending vertical portions.

The lower end of the side 2 is'bent inwardly and upwardly to form an approxim ately U-shaped keeper 5 which is open at the top and adapted to receive the pointed end of the skewer 4.

- The wire at the lower end of the other side 3 is coiled or bent to form a spring loop 6 and is extended therefrom across the hanger to form the said skewer l. The spring loop operates to maintain the free pointed end of the skewer in engagement with the keeper and the welghtof the slab 7 when engaged by the skewer will maintain thesame in they The hanger is adapted to'be applied keeper. to either s kinned or unskinned bellies or slabs res Parana? caries g of bacon and as illustratedin- Fig. 5 of the drawings, all of the skin of the slab 'Tis removed with the exception of a'narrow str p 8 which extends across the upper end of the The skewer may be passed through the" hard fat beneath the skin, but it-is preferable to lace the skewer through the ribbons 10 of skin as by this arrangement a maximum portlon of the skewer is arranged exteriorly of the edible portion of the meat and only a minimum portion of the skewer comes in contact with said edible portion of the bacon. The

cuts 9 may be made byany suitable means and the skewer acts as a form or straightening rod to cooperate with a clamping lever for preventing distortion or curling of themeat while smoking and curing the same. I

The clamping lever comprises two approximately inverted L-shaped sides 11 provided at their angles with eyes 12 formed by coiling the heavy wire or other suitable material of which the clamping lever is constructed. The eyes are arranged on the fulcrum rod 1 at the ends thereof adjacent thev inverted L- shaped sides 2 and 3 of the'skewer frame and the said L-shaped sides of the lever frame form lever arms which are arranged hori-x zontally and vertically. The horizontal portions of the sides 11 are connected by a suspension rod 13 formed integral with the sides of the lever frame and arranged in parallelism with the fulcrum rod and the skewer and provided at oppositesides of its center with stops 14 consisting of projections or lugs which may be welded or otherwise fixed to the suspension rod and which are adapted to limit the adjustment of a supporting device 15 along the suspension rod of the clamping lever. v r

The supporting device preferably sists of ahook constructed of stout wire which is doubled to form two sides and the wire is twisted at the shank 16 of the'hook and the terminal portions ofthe wire are coiled at opposite sides of the lower end of the shank 16 to form extended eyes 17 which are arranged on the suspension rod 13 and provide a resilient bearing sleeve for the sup porting hook. The supporting hook is adapt- ;ed to be arranged either in the central or off center position. and, when arranged in, an

'off center position the strain to which the hook is subjected will cause the resilient bearing sleeve or eyes tofrictionally grip the suspensioli'rod and thereby prevent accidental independent sliding movement of the supporting hook and the hangerrod.

Thedepending vertical portions of the sides of the. lever frame are connected by parallel rods 18, 19 and 20 located at the lower ends of the vertical portions or sides and forming a meat clamping jaw and proangles to -11 ofthe lever frame,

to receivethe inner end ings, the said slab at either end thereof accordingly 7 or left bellyv is to besuspended in vided with small projections or spurs 21 for engaging the lean side of the slab of bacon, but the said projections 21 may, of course, be omitted if desired, from one or more of the rods 18, 19 and 20.

VThe depending vertical portions of the sides 11 of the lever frame are provided at their'lower ends with forwardly extending transverse jaws 22 for engaging the slab of bacon at the sides thereof. The fixed transverse jaws are preferably formed by bending the wire of the sides 11 at right form the lower portions of the jaws 22 and then upwardly at an acute angle to form the inclined portions of the said vjaws 22, the terminals of the Wire being welded to the vertical portions of the sides but the transverse jaws may befof any other desired construction, as will, bereadily understood.

.The'clamping lever is also equipped with airadjustable transverse jaw 23. adapted'to be arranged at either side of the center of the hanger to cooperate with either of the fixed. transverse jaws 22 which are located at the ends of the hanger and the adjustment of the intermediate transverse jaw enables slabs of=bacon of diiferentwidths to be confinedin the hanger against sliding movement along the skewer. The intermediate adjustable jaw 23 is provided with a rigid screw 24 on which is mounted a vertical plate 25 havingv an opening 26 tov receive thescrew and provided with orwardly extending terminal flanges 27 which-engage. over therod 18 and under the rod 20 for. slidably mounting the intermediate transverse jaw on the said rods.

The flanges 27 are provided with notches-28 of the transverse j aw 23 andjthe said screw 24 is provided with a thumb nut 29 adapted to engage the plate 25 for throwing the same and the adjustable j aw tightly into engagement with the parallel rods of the clamping lever. This will enable the adjustable jaw to be secured against sliding movement on the said rods for holding the said adjustable jaw'in engagement with one of theside edges of a slab of bacon, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 5'of the drawbeing confined between the adjustable jaw 23 and one of the end jaws 22. This will prevent any sliding movement of the slab of bacon on the skewer when the hanger suspends center and by providing the fixed end jaws at the ends of the hanger the latter maybe applied to right and left, bellies and the bellies or slabs may be placed in the hanger as the right the hanger. Also, the construction accommodates-bellies orslabs of different widths. Also by confining the upper end of the slab of bacon between the transverse jaws the bacon is prethe slab of bacon off struction and operation of the bacon is clamped and subjected to vented from spreading into fan shape and is maintained in a compact condition.- The jaws or shoulders 22 on the sides or ends of the hanger are arranged at right angles to the cross rods 18, 19 and 20 and act as stops and hold the bacon whether a rightor left belly and square one side of thehanging end. The sliding shoulder or jaw is adapted to compress the hanging end of the belly and hold the other side edgein a squareposition. With the sliding device it is possible to compress the thin belly side of the hanging end of the bacon and thus even the thickness of the entire end of the piece of meat. Also the flank pocket is somewhat thickened in this operation.

The cross rods 18, 19 and 20 are of similar diameter than the heavy wire of the clamping lever and the skewer frame and a relatively great area of lean or flesh side of the thereby avoiding unnecessary penetration of metal bars into the flesh side of the bacon and increasing the surety of proper support and minimizing the-size of contact marks on the bacon.

When the hanger is applied to the meat the weight thereof, the weight of the slab of bacon will throw the clamping lever into proper clamping position and will maintain a positive clamping action on the meat as long as the same is suspended in the hanger and as the meat shrinks the clamp will automatically adjust itself to and follow the meat so that the upper end of the belly or slab will always be held in proper position.

The skewer which constitutes a straightening rod or form cooperates with the clamping jaw to prevent distortion or curling o the meat during curing or processing.

lVhile the meat engaging jaw of the clamping lever is illustrated in the drawings as consisting of three parallel rods 18, 19 and 20, any number of the rods may, of course, be employed.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings, the condevice is the same with the exception of the means for engaging the skin side of the slab of bacon and instead of employing skewer for this purpose, as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, the frame is provided with a horizontal fulcrum rod 31, approximately inverted L-shaped sides 32, and a skin engaging rod 33 connecting the lower ends of the approximately L-shaped sides 32 of the frame 30. The skin engaging rod 33 which is horizontal provided at intervals with nail-like hooks 3 1: which pierce the skin 35 of the slab 36 of bacon. The nail-like hooks which are tapered and pointed are preferably curved slightly and are arranged at an inclination and extend upwardly and inwardly from the rod 33 when the sides of the frame the same or cuts may thereof, a clamping skewer,

except for a narrow strip across the upper end 5 35 of the bacon and the upper edge of the narrow strip of skin is preferably separated from the slab to provide a skin flap 37 to be engaged by the said hook-nails. WVhile the hook-like nails will readily pierce the skin be drilled to provide holes for the latter may be made in the skin at intervals to facilitate the engagement of the hook-like nails with the said skin.

The clamping lever 38 is constructed substantially the same as the clamping lever heretofore described with the exception that a greater number of rods 39 are provided for engaging the lean or flesh side of the slab of bacon. The construction and operation of the comb clamp bacon hanger illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings, are the same as the construction and operation of the form of the invei'ition illustrated. in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive of the drawings with the exception of the skin engaging means.

What is claimed is:

. 1. A clamp hanger of'the class described, comprising a skewer frame having a skewer for engaging a slab of bacon at the skin side lever fulcrumed on the skewer frame and cooperating with the skewer to clamp a slab of bacon to the said and a supporting device provided with resilient eyes slidably mounted on the clamping lever and adapted to frictionally engage the same when the supporting device is moved to an off center position.

2'. A clamp hanger of the class described, comprising a skewer frame having a skewer for-engaging a slab of bacon at the skin side thereof, a clamping lever fulcrumed on the skewer frame and cooperating with the skewer to clamp a slab of bacon to the said skewer, said clamping lever being provided with a suspension rod, a supporting device provided with a terminaleye slidably mounted on the said suspension rod, and spaced stops carried by the suspension rod for limiting the movement of the supporting device.

3. A clamp hanger of the class described, comprising a skewer frame having a skewer :for engaging a slab of bacon at the skin side lever fulcrumed on the on the suspension rod'andadapted to frictionally engage the same when the supporting device is moved into an of! center position.

4. A clamphanger of the class described provided with means for engaging one side of a slab of bacon, clamping means for engaging the opposite side of the slab and relatively adjustable means carried by the clamping means and slidable thereon and arranged to engage the slab at the edges thereof for compressing the bacon for preventing spreading of the same.

5. A clamp hanger of the class described provided with means for engaging a slab of bacon, fixed transverse jaws carried by the hanger at spaced points, and a relatively adjustable jaw mounted on the hanger between the fixed jaws and arranged to cooperate with either one of thesame for engaginga slab of bacon at the'side edges thereof.

6. A clamp hanger of the class described provided with means for engaging a slab of bacon, fixed transverse jaws carried-by the hanger at the ends thereof, and an adjustable transverse jaw located between the fixed jaws and provided with a clamping member arranged to grip a portion of the hangerbetween the adjustable jaw and the said member forsecuring the-said adjustable jaw in its adjustment. g V

7. A clamp hanger of the class described including a skewer frame-having a skewer, a clamping lever fulcrumed on the skewer frame and provided with spaced rods forming a meat clamping jaw and arranged to cooperate-with the skewer to clamp a slab of bacon and prevent distortion or curling, a fixed transverse jaw carried by thelever for engaging the slab of bacon at one side edge thereof, and an adjustable transverse jaw slidably mounted on the said rods for engaging the slab of bacon at the thereof.

8. A clamp hanger of the class described including a skewer frame having a skewer, a clamping lever fulcrumed onthe skewer frame and provided with spaced rods forming a meat clamping jaw and arranged to cooperate with the skewer to clamp a slab of bacon and prevent distortion or curling, a fixed transverse jaw carried by the lever for engaging the slab of bacon at one side-edge thereof, and an adjustable transverse aw slidably mounted on the said rods for engaging the slab of bacon at the opposite side edge thereof, said adjustable transverse jaw being provided with clamping means comprising a threaded member, a plate mounted on the threaded member, and a nut also arranged on the threaded member and engaging the plate for clamping the rods between the plateand the adjustable jaw.

9. A clamp hanger of the class described including a skewer frame having a skewer, a clamping lever fulcrumed on the skewer opposite side edge ing a meat clamping jaw and arranged to cooperate with the skewer to clamp a slab of bacon and prevent distortion or curling, a fixed transverse jaw carried by the lever for engaging the slab of bacon at one side edge thereof, an adjustable transverse jaw slidably mounted on the said rods for engaging the slab of bacon at the opposite side edge thereof, said adjustable transverse jaw being provided with clamping means comprising a threaded member projecting from the adjustable jaw, the clamping plate arranged on the screw and having terminal flanges provided with notches receiving the adjustable jaw at spaced points, and a nut mounted on the threaded member and engaging the plate for clamping the rods between the plate and the adjustable jaw to secure the latter in its adj ustment.

10. A frame having means for engaging a slab'of bacon at the skin side thereof, a clamping lever fulcrumed on the frame and cooperating with the same to clamp the slab of bacon, and a supporting device provided with resilient eyes slidably and frictionally mounted on the clamping lever.

Signed at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, this 28 day of September, 1931.

- JOHN E. COVEY.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 1,915,293. June 27, 1933.

JOHN E. COVEY.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 1, line 53, for "of" first occurrence, read "or"; page 3, line 17, for "similar" read "smaller"; and line 79, for "hook-nails" read"hook-like nails"; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 22nd day of August, A. D. 1933.

M. J. Moore.

(Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

